THE JOURNEY FROM AFRICA TO CAROLINA
Their popularity in South Carolina follows international trends. Among Victorian collectors, plants from Africa and the tropics were all the rage. South Carolinians of the day cultivated crinums too. But there is an unsolved mystery -- how did so many crinum bulbs move from Africa to Carolina? African crinums now grow throughout the Caribbean and into coastal Carolina - along the same routes of the slave trade.
Who brought them and planted them along the way? Curators of museums, anthropologists and historians suggest sailors, traders and plant lovers of the day. Even some slaves were brought to the U.S. as medicine and religious men. They brought the plants and tools of their trade - crinums were and still are used in some West African cultures for their 'magical' properties. And crinum bulbs are big tough, storage units capable of being dried in shipping for months.
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In the 1950's, Crinum Lilies reached another peak of popularity. Horticulturists of the 'Great Generation' spent their lives breeding, searching and promoting bigger, better flowers. The 1950's trend of crinum breeding flourished in Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, and California. Stalwart cultivars of the day reigned as queens of crinums for next several decades. They also reflected the names of the breeders and their loves ones; 'Ellen Bousenque' a beautiful red is named for the wife of Florida hybridizer Louis Bousenquet. 'Cecil Houdyshel' for the California hybridizer and 'Hannibal's Dwarf' for California's renowned crinum expert, Les Hannibal. Mr. Hannibal was so generous with his time and so loved sharing about crinum that in his late 80's he became a pen pal of young, crinum hopeful Jenks Farmer - that's me. |
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In South Carolina, local television gardener Willie Freeland and his friend Jim Porter led a local crinum mania. Pat Malcom was a leader of South Georgia crinum lovers. At that time Highway 301 was the major tourist link between the North and Florida. Small towns on the route were hopping. In Allendale, The Lobster House, The Palm Court and other motor-courts were lushly landscaped with palms and tropicals. Today, many of these buildings sit silent, but tough plants survive - like the unique crinum we found and named in Allendale. I watched a huge, vigorous plant with erect scapes, to 7 feet tall, flower over the course of five years. I collected pups from beside a concrete block building (with owners permission), sent the plant and photos around to various experts. After years of observation and confirmation that this was a distinct, unnamed cultivar, I christened it to honor the lush-life of 1950's Allendale and South Carolina rural route 301. It is now Crinum 'Regina's Disco Lounge.' |
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In the 1990's, and staff of the newly developed Riverbanks Botanical Garden assembled the largest collection of crinum lilies in the Southeastern US. "Crinum "rustlers" rescue crinums from cemeteries, home-sites and country gardens. Andy Cabe continues the tradition in Riverbanks today. Breeders in Texas and Mississippi and Georgia once again delved into crinums and the fashion continues today. In this new century, names like Roy Works, Marcell Shepard, Dave Limiller and Thad Howard will go down in crinum history. The list of modern breeders is long and many never receive proper recognition for their work. Crinums take more than three years to produce flowers from seed, so crinum breeding is a lifetime investment. Many breeders, horticulturists who show off and love crinums, photographers and writers have contributed to the current spotlight which favors this old plant. These traders, breeders and growers all dream that their babies, their crinum lilies will find their way into your Southern garden. |